What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 420 From Destroyer to Cruiser (4800 monthly votes in May)

Wayne stared at the charred metal box, which was unrecognizable. He knew what a drone was, but he was still puzzled.
"If it can be controlled unmanned, why would pilots need to be sent to their deaths?"

"Because of offline control."

Mark explained:
"If it is a missile or drone, it needs satellite or early warning aircraft guidance to find the fleet's location across 1500 kilometers without knowing the target's exact location."

Obviously, the Second Fleet has no satellites, and aircraft guidance would have to be conducted at high altitudes, which would have made us shoot them down. Only personnel could make judgments based on the actual situation on the vast ocean in the dark, confirm the target, and launch an attack.

We had previously questioned: flying continuously at extremely low altitudes for thousands of kilometers would be extremely taxing on a pilot's mental state, requiring them to be constantly on high alert, almost pushing the limits of human endurance. It's impossible to have so many top-tier pilots to withstand such strain.

We now tend to believe that the primary job of pilots is to guide the formation, while truly challenging flights are accomplished by unmanned computers.

Wayne: "We also have drones, can we do that?"

"Strictly speaking, our drones are not truly unmanned; it's just that there are no people on board the aircraft."

This time, it wasn't Mark speaking, but another expert in missile control:

"Our drones simply place the pilots on the ground. The aircraft's own computer has very limited judgment capabilities. It is barely sufficient for reconnaissance missions, but it is absolutely incapable of flexibly deploying and launching attacks in extremely harsh environments."

For example, what would be needed for the airstrikes in Guyana? Hundreds of aircraft flying at low altitudes using terrain matching or machine vision without collisions, intelligently identifying and assigning targets… This is still just a theoretical concept; current technology cannot achieve it.

Mark: "I'd like to add that the group of aircraft that attacked the Clemenceau was witnessed flying low over the city and performing supersonic maneuvers to evade it, which is unimaginable for modern drones."

The more Huai En listened, the more uneasy he felt. Suddenly realizing something, he grabbed the shards of glass on the ground:
"Wait a minute, this powerful unmanned computer is still made using vacuum tubes?"

"That's the most incredible part."

Mark's expression also turned serious:

"No traces of silicon wafer burning were found. If it were a vacuum tube computer of this size, it would be difficult to even complete a ten-digit addition operation."

"But if their unmanned combat aircraft can perform all sorts of difficult maneuvers just like humans, wouldn't that mean... the young men in the Air Force in the future might have to fight against machines?"

Wayne thought of the air force base that was about to be deployed to Panama, where at most 30 fighter jets would be stationed, but if another 300 or even 100 gnats came, they might not be able to handle it.

If he were to exchange one of his fighter jets for a drone, even at a ratio of one to five, he would feel he was losing out badly.

His face immediately stiffened, and he said to Mark:

“Sir, you must take responsibility for this conclusion. If this is the truth, it would be terrible.”

"It's already terrible."

The voice came from behind, and when I turned around, I saw a bald, burly man.

Director York of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau arrived like a ghost, having overheard the entire conversation. York clearly knew what Wayne was thinking, and then delivered even worse news:

"Through our research on the remains, we found that the U-boat crew members and pilots could be traced back to a limited number of related families, but they were not related by blood and had no genetic diseases. On the contrary, they were all very healthy."

Wayne didn't have a good impression of those madmen at BPRD who researched superpowers, and frowned as he asked:

"They're just in good health, what's so strange about that? Our Air Force lads are all as strong as calves."

York merely smiled faintly, then narrowed his eyes menacingly:

"Then please think about it, what is the probability that a person has never had cavities, never had wisdom teeth extracted, never had scars from playing or fighting, never had a minor bone fracture from a fall that healed, never had an appendectomy, never had organ damage from smoking, and has a body as perfect and flawless as a baby, without any traces?"
But they were, all those Han soldiers were like that, with no trace of their past except for battle wounds, which left only one possibility:

Those people are not natural persons, but products of genetic modification through cloning or other means, and almost all of them have been brainwashed, which is why they can be used as expendable resources without restraint.

We are fighting machines, man-made monsters; the real members of the Second Fleet may never have even reached the front lines.

……

The definitive conclusion about cloning can be attributed to Professor Victor.

After confirming that the corpses all came from a few close families, he dissected the heads of many of the corpses to look for things like artificial organic chips, and then realized a huge problem:
The skulls of these sailors have healed remarkably well, and their physiques are perfectly healthy.

Extending this concept to the whole body, aside from the trauma inflicted at the time of death, each person's body is as healthy as an ideal specimen.

After observing them several more times, he discovered that none of these Hans had any oral problems. Everyone's teeth were straight, without cavities or crooked wisdom teeth, and their bones were even and proportionally balanced.

Humans, who grow up naturally, inevitably experience various accidents from childhood to adulthood. How can they possibly grow into near-perfect adults?
Previously, everyone was looking for brain-computer interfaces and chips that only existed in science fiction novels, completely ignoring the most obvious and incredible feature.

The idea was confirmed once again when the wreckage of the pilots obtained from the second air raid was delivered.

……

Imperial Navy Office

Another meeting was held regarding the next generation of destroyers.

Last year, with the end of the contest between Jay and his predecessor Michael, the arsenal ship design was eliminated, and the new DDG design, which emphasizes land attack, won.

After facing the Battle of Antigua and the development of the arsenal of battleships by the East, some people suggested that the new DDG needed to be adjusted. It wasn't until this disastrous defeat that a new DDG plan was officially put forward.

Compared to the previous plan, this version almost completely overturns the original approach to China:
-
Two 155mm AGS electromagnetic guns proved insufficient, and considering the application of gun-launched rockets, a twin-mounted 285mm electromagnetic gun was proposed, with two guns installed for a total of four.
The ship's hull has been enlarged to 2.5 tons, and the decision was made to abandon the aluminum alloy superstructure to reduce the risk of fire. At the same time, 48 MK57 quadruple vertical launch units were installed. Considering the multiple missiles per cell, it can carry 260 to 300 missiles, making its firepower more powerful.
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A new unmanned early warning aircraft reconnaissance system has been added (to counter ultra-low-altitude penetration), achieving true three-dimensional reconnaissance without blind spots;

These three ships are the culmination of almost all the experience gained from the two naval battles. Calling them DDGs is not even quite right. They should be called large cruisers, and they are the largest modern warships in the Empire.

(End of this chapter)